Favored by the incomparable @OkieStubble with a treasure trove of Bootlegger aftershave samples, I write to share my experience and impressions. Herewith, the first installment.
PART ONE: Green Freeze
The shave: A lazier-than-normal Saturday for a lazier-than-normal academic—cold-brew coffee and a chicken-and-tomatillo-salsa omelet for breakfast, followed by a couple of hours addressing pre-production requests from his publisher for a forthcoming book. Comes the postman to break up the monotonous minutae. Shoes! (Tried on. They fit. Wingtips. Multi-tone. Handsome.) A small package from @OkieStubble containing the entire Bootlegger's catalogue in sample form!
Two thoughts: (1) It's a good thing I haven't shaved yet. (2) How did it get to be 3p?
To the bathroom. Wash face and wash face again, soaking Omega S-brush the whole time. Shake excess water off brush, swirl in travel container of Gentlemens Refinery unscented shaving cream (getting the 3017 treatment this month). Face lather. Weapon of choice: Feather Artist Club DX with Feather Professional blade. Two days' growth doesn't stand a chance. (Aside: The Feather had been put away for the last six weeks or so as our protagonist shaved exclusively with a Focus Slim Al shavette. The improvements in technique a half-DE shavette force on you pay rich dividends when you return to a superlative disposable-blade straight like the Artist Club. It's like it's a different razor, when in reality it's a different and better operator.) Three passes. Hot water rinse. Cold water rinse. Pat dry. Result: 85% BBS, some stubborn-but-short stubble in a couple of places on the neck accounting for the other 15%.
The aftershave: Bootlegger's Green Freeze is a half-and-half blend of Jeris Osage Rub and Mennen Skin Bracer. Left to his own devices, our protagonist would have been unlikely to pursue this blend on his own initiative. It combines a tonic celebrated for its high menthol content (something tending historically to irritate our protagonist's skin) with an aftershave known to have a prominent powder note (toward which our protagonist's Mrs is ill-disposed). However, @OkieStubble's initiative met our protagonist's spirit of adventure: Green Freeze was slapped on!
Impressions: Menthol-forward in its opening, Green Freeze both cools the face and fills the nose with a medicinal-menthol scent. Here, our protagonist braced for the cooling sensation to give way to burning—as have previous, heavily-mentholated skin treatments. (No Cat O' Nine Tails, Cryogen, or Snakebite for him, thank you.) But here, much to his surprise, no burn followed. Instead, the Skin Bracer moderated the development of the menthol component and asserted itself olfactorally—first as baby powder, later as vanilla. The cooling sensation remained cool, dissipating slowly rather than being engulfed in flame. The face feel – even now, an hour after application – is like having slapped on a very fine, vanilla-scented talcum powder. There is a hint of luxury to Green Freeze that neither of its components possesses alone. About ten minutes in, the Mrs caught the menthol and vanilla scents, but found the powder appropriately muted. Score one for Green Freeze in the marital harmony category.
Verdict: Of all the Bootlegger's recipes, this one looked the least appealing to our protagonist. But looks, as we know, can deceive. In Green Freeze, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. After slapping it on, our protagonist looks forward to slapping it on again.
Part Two to come.
PART ONE: Green Freeze
The shave: A lazier-than-normal Saturday for a lazier-than-normal academic—cold-brew coffee and a chicken-and-tomatillo-salsa omelet for breakfast, followed by a couple of hours addressing pre-production requests from his publisher for a forthcoming book. Comes the postman to break up the monotonous minutae. Shoes! (Tried on. They fit. Wingtips. Multi-tone. Handsome.) A small package from @OkieStubble containing the entire Bootlegger's catalogue in sample form!
Two thoughts: (1) It's a good thing I haven't shaved yet. (2) How did it get to be 3p?
To the bathroom. Wash face and wash face again, soaking Omega S-brush the whole time. Shake excess water off brush, swirl in travel container of Gentlemens Refinery unscented shaving cream (getting the 3017 treatment this month). Face lather. Weapon of choice: Feather Artist Club DX with Feather Professional blade. Two days' growth doesn't stand a chance. (Aside: The Feather had been put away for the last six weeks or so as our protagonist shaved exclusively with a Focus Slim Al shavette. The improvements in technique a half-DE shavette force on you pay rich dividends when you return to a superlative disposable-blade straight like the Artist Club. It's like it's a different razor, when in reality it's a different and better operator.) Three passes. Hot water rinse. Cold water rinse. Pat dry. Result: 85% BBS, some stubborn-but-short stubble in a couple of places on the neck accounting for the other 15%.
The aftershave: Bootlegger's Green Freeze is a half-and-half blend of Jeris Osage Rub and Mennen Skin Bracer. Left to his own devices, our protagonist would have been unlikely to pursue this blend on his own initiative. It combines a tonic celebrated for its high menthol content (something tending historically to irritate our protagonist's skin) with an aftershave known to have a prominent powder note (toward which our protagonist's Mrs is ill-disposed). However, @OkieStubble's initiative met our protagonist's spirit of adventure: Green Freeze was slapped on!
Impressions: Menthol-forward in its opening, Green Freeze both cools the face and fills the nose with a medicinal-menthol scent. Here, our protagonist braced for the cooling sensation to give way to burning—as have previous, heavily-mentholated skin treatments. (No Cat O' Nine Tails, Cryogen, or Snakebite for him, thank you.) But here, much to his surprise, no burn followed. Instead, the Skin Bracer moderated the development of the menthol component and asserted itself olfactorally—first as baby powder, later as vanilla. The cooling sensation remained cool, dissipating slowly rather than being engulfed in flame. The face feel – even now, an hour after application – is like having slapped on a very fine, vanilla-scented talcum powder. There is a hint of luxury to Green Freeze that neither of its components possesses alone. About ten minutes in, the Mrs caught the menthol and vanilla scents, but found the powder appropriately muted. Score one for Green Freeze in the marital harmony category.
Verdict: Of all the Bootlegger's recipes, this one looked the least appealing to our protagonist. But looks, as we know, can deceive. In Green Freeze, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. After slapping it on, our protagonist looks forward to slapping it on again.
Part Two to come.
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